“We had two hours with Congressional leaders, we had a working lunch with President Trump, and we had follow up briefings with General McMaster, the National Security Adviser and his team. And Syria was one of the central issues, along with DPRK and the UN. Those were the three top issues.” UK ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft told reporters Tuesday.
“On Syria, the United States have a policy, which is to end this conflict as swiftly as possible, to preserve lives, and to help get Syria back on its feet. We support them in that. That involves full humanitarian access, a genuine ceasefire, and proper political talks that will lead to a transition, after which Asad will no longer be in power.” Rycroft added.
He said that the UK pursued the same policy.
Rycroft told Rudaw the meeting did tackle the war against ISIS as part of their Middle East agenda and that all parties, especially the US stressed the need to continue the fight against the group till the end.
“Well, in all of the discussions about the Middle East, the two big issues that came through for me were first of all, the emphasis that the United States, quite rightly, is placing on fighting Da’esh and making sure that that campaign continues until victory.” The UK ambassador said.
Rycroft went on to say: “And there is a very strong coalition, of which the UK is proud to play our part in that regard. We also heard about the importance of ensuring that Iran does not destabilise the region further. But actually outside the region.”
French ambassador to the UN François Delattre said that the meeting between the UN diplomats and the US president which was arranged by US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley was positive and that in their meeting they had dealt with the question of tensions in the Korean peninsula.
“I don’t want to speak on behalf of the President, but the message of President Trump on North Korea was loud and clear and it is an important message, absolutely.” Delattre told Rudaw.
“You know France’s position: we are on the firm side and we believe that we must maximize pressure on the leadership of North Korea, with one difficulty which is the fact that we have to deal with a leader whose behavior is irrational, but whose goal is very rational, which is to promote across the board a nuclear program. And that’s why we have to answer both at the same time, the irrational behavior and the rational goal.”
from Rudaw http://ift.tt/2pjWcy4
via Defense News
No comments: